Draft appliance.



11H. DURGIN. DRAFT AAPILIANGI?. APPLICATION FILED DEU.9,1908.

PatentedApr. 13, 1909,

attenuato UNITED STATES PATENT OFFTCE.

FRANK H. DURGIN, O1r LE MARS, IOWA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WILLIAM F. BELAU AND ONE-HALF TO CHARLES J. MARQUE, OF LE MARS, IOWA.

DRAFT APPLIANCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 13, 1909.

Application filed December 9, 1908. Serial No. 466,668.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, FRANK li. DURGIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Le Mars, Iowa, in the county of Plymouth 5 and State of Iowa, have invented a ne.7 and useful Draft Appliance, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the present invention is to provide a bracket which may be applied to an ordinary wagon, such as a lumber wagon, without'altering the structure of the running gear of the wagon in any way whatsoever, and will serve as a inerme` for the attachment and support of an equalizer bar so constructed as to have a greater number of draft animals travel to one side of the tongue than to the other side, and one of the primary objects of the invention is to so construct the bracket as to equally and evenly distribute ythe strain upon the ruiming gear.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a top plan view ol the forward portion ol" the running gear of an ordinary vehicle, such as that of a lumber wagon, showing the application of the invention thereto; Fig. 2 is a perspective vieu of the bracket, removed lrom the vehicle running gear.

ln the drawings the hound:` of the runningy gear are indicated b v the muneral 5, the reach by the numeral and the sandboard' by the numeral 7 the tongue of the vehicle heilig indicated by 8.

The attachment embodied in the invention consists of bracket member and a brace for holding said member in proper position upon the vehicle running gear, and the bracket member is in thc nature of a bar 9, which, at its rear end, is bent. downwardly at right angles as at 1t), and thence beneath its body portion at 1l, so as to receive or embrace a portion ol' the reach 6 of the vehicle running gear. inwardly of the reach-engaging end of the bar, it is ori'- set in an upward direction, as indicated. by 'the numeral 12, so as to bring the body por tion of the bar in a plane above the sandboard 7. tended substantially in the arc of a circle laterally, and has its forward portion extended directly forwardly in a line substantially parallel with the line of extent of the reach 6. Secured upon the bar at its forward end is a hammer strap 13, through the extremity rof which and the said extremity of the bar, is passed a bolt 14. r:"he bolt 14 The bar 9 has its rear portion ex- )ust mentioned is passed also through an equalizer bar or beam 15, which is received between the hammer strap and the forward extremity of the bar 9, and to this equalizer bar is connected a swingle-tree t6, and a double-tree 17, to which latter are connected sWingle-trees 18, two sWingle-trees being, in this manner, arranged and supported to one side of the vehicle tongue S, and a single one of the trees to the other side of the said tongue.

ln addition to being passed through the extremities of the hammer strap, bar 9, and the equalizer beam 15, the bolt 14 passes also through the forward end of a brace bar 19, to the rear end of which is pivoted an attaching bolt 20. This bolt has threaded upon it a nut 21, and, in applying the device to a vehicle, the bolt is assed from front to rear tl'irough the sandoard 7, and the nut 21 is then threaded upon the bolt and tightened. The point of attachment of the forward end of the brace bar 19 to the bracket 9 is to one side of the line of extent of the reach 6, and the point of attachment ofthe rear end of the said brace bar to the sand-board 7 is to the other side of the said line of extent of the reach, the brace bar being extended roarwardly diagonally in advance of the sandboard, as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

From the foregoing description of the invention it will be observed that the device embodied therein may be readily and quickly applied to the running gear of any ordinary vehicle of that type whichvroquires several draft animals, and that, by reason of the peculiar location and arrangement of the brace bar 1Q and .its manner of connection with the running gear of the vehicle and with the bracket member of the device, the strain or stress upon the running gear is cqualized, or in other words, equally distributed to oposite sides of the line of extent of the reach, liiteral stress being e'l'l'ectually overcome.

What is claimed is 1. In a draft equalizer, the combination with a vehicle reach and sand-board, of a bracket secured at one end to the reach and extended laterally and thence forwardly to a point forwardly of the sand-board and to one side of the line of extent of the reach, the said bracket being arranged at its forward end to support an equalizer bar, and a brace secured to the forward end of the bracket and to the said sand-board at a point to the other side of the line of extent of the reach.

2. In a draft equalizer', the combination With a vehicle reach and sand-board, of a bracket secured at its rear end to the reach, said bracket being arranged at its forward end to support an equalizer bar lying to one side of the line of extent of the reach, and a brace bar secured at its forward end to the forward end of the bracket and extending diagonaily in front of the sand-board and secured at its rear end to the said sand-board at a point to the other side of the line of extent of the reach.

3. An attachment of the class described comprising an arcuate bar having one end formed to embrace a Vehicle reach, the said bar being provided at its other end with a hammer strap for the attachment of an equalizer bar, a boit passed through the hammer strap and the end of the arcuate bar, a brace bar7 through one end of which said boit is also passed, whereby to pivot the said brace bar at'its said end to the arcuate bar, and an attaching boit piyoted to the other end of the said brace bar.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own7 I have hereto afxed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses. l

FRANK H. DURGIN.

itnesses T. M. ZiNK, P. W. T. BELAU. 

